Congressional Votes for Oklahoma the Week of 06/07 - 06/13/2013

WASHINGTON, June 16 -- The U.S. Senate took three key votes this past week; the House acted on nine key measures. The Senate took a total of six votes in the week ending Thursday, the House voted 18 times. The most significant vote in the House was on the Swap Jurisdiction Certainty Act; the most significant vote in the Senate was on the farm bill.

The House also passed one bill: the Reverse Mortgage Stabilization Act (H.R. 2167), sponsored by Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash., which would authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish additional requirements for improving the fiscal safety and soundness of the home equity conversion mortgage insurance program. The Senate cleared one bill: a resolution (S. Res. 154), sponsored by Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., to call for free and fair elections in Iran. These were either not key votes or were acted upon on voice votes.

WASHINGTON, June 14 -- Here's a look at how area members of Congress voted over the previous week.

HOUSE VOTES:

House Vote 1:
MARGIN REQUIREMENTS FOR DERIVATIVES TRADES: The House has passed the Business Risk Mitigation and Price Stabilization Act (H.R. 634), sponsored by Rep. Michael G. Grimm, R-N.Y. The bill would exempt non-financial companies that are end users of over-the-counter derivatives from having to post margin as backing for their uncleared derivatives trades. Grimm said: "If margin requirements were imposed on these nonfinancial end users, it would harm our economy by very simply diverting working capital from productive uses such as reinvestment into the business or job creation." The vote, on June 12, was 411 yeas to 12 nays.
YEAS: Rep. Jim Bridenstine R-OK (1st), Rep. Tom Cole R-OK (4th), Rep. James Lankford R-OK (5th), Rep. Frank D. Lucas R-OK (3rd), Rep. Markwayne Mullin R-OK (2nd)

House Vote 2:
INDEMNITY AND SWAPS REGULATION: The House has passed the Swap Data Repository and Clearinghouse Indemnification Correction Act (H.R. 742), sponsored by Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark. The bill would repeal a requirement for foreign regulators to indemnify U.S.-based swap data repositories as insurance against expenses the repositories might incur due to the regulators requesting market data from repositories. Crawford said the requirement has thwarted international coordination for regulating swaps because other countries do not have indemnification laws, and the resulting creation of many different swap data repositories in individual countries would hamper efforts to monitor and mitigate against systemic risk in global financial markets. The vote, on June 12, was 420 yeas to 2 nays.
YEAS: Rep. Jim Bridenstine R-OK (1st), Rep. Tom Cole R-OK (4th), Rep. James Lankford R-OK (5th), Rep. Frank D. Lucas R-OK (3rd), Rep. Markwayne Mullin R-OK (2nd)

House Vote 3:
REGULATING CROSS-BORDER SWAPS TRADES: The House has passed the Swap Jurisdiction Certainty Act (H.R. 1256), sponsored by Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J. The bill would require the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission to work together to develop rules to regulate cross-border swaps trades. Garrett said the bill would provide for regulatory certainty in financial markets by requiring both agencies to have identical rules, thereby preventing the possibility of market participants taking advantage of differing rules from the two agencies. An opponent, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said the bill would result in the U.S. relying on weak foreign regulations for protection against financial risk, creating the same kind of regulatory weakness that led to the 2008 financial crisis. The vote, on June 12, was 301 yeas to 124 nays.
YEAS: Rep. Tom Cole R-OK (4th), Rep. James Lankford R-OK (5th), Rep. Frank D. Lucas R-OK (3rd), Rep. Markwayne Mullin R-OK (2nd)
NAYS: Rep. Jim Bridenstine R-OK (1st)

House Vote 4:
PUBLIC UTILITIES AND RISK MANAGEMENT: The House has passed the Public Power Risk Management Act (H.R. 1038), sponsored by Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif. The bill would declare that public power utilities are not required to register as a swap dealer in order to make energy swaps trades with other utilities. LaMalfa said if the bill passed, public utilities would avoid millions of dollars of costs by maintaining their ability to use swaps trades to limit their exposure to the volatile prices of energy sources used to generate power. The vote, on June 12, was unanimous with 423 yeas.
YEAS: Rep. Jim Bridenstine R-OK (1st), Rep. Tom Cole R-OK (4th), Rep. James Lankford R-OK (5th), Rep. Frank D. Lucas R-OK (3rd), Rep. Markwayne Mullin R-OK (2nd)

House Vote 5:
ICBM MISSILES: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Cynthia M. Lummis, R-Wyo., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1960). The amendment would require the Defense Department to maintain intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silos on warm status, enabling the military to keep the ICBMs fully functional. Lummis said maintaining warm status for the ICBM silos is needed " so as not to take steps backward that would be costly to reverse at a later date, especially if we encountered unforeseen geopolitical changes" such as nuclear dangers from Iran, North Korea, and Russia. An opponent, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said the amendment would hurt the military's ability to cut spending as required by the budget sequester, and the military would have ample nuclear deterrence even without having the silos on warm status. The vote, on June 13, was 235 yeas to 189 nays.
YEAS: Rep. Jim Bridenstine R-OK (1st), Rep. Tom Cole R-OK (4th), Rep. James Lankford R-OK (5th), Rep. Frank D. Lucas R-OK (3rd), Rep. Markwayne Mullin R-OK (2nd)

House Vote 6:
MILITARY MAINTENANCE AND TECHNOLOGY FUNDING: The House has rejected an amendment sponsored by Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1960). The amendment would have cut $250 million of funding for the Defense Rapid Innovation Program (DRIP) and instead used the $250 million to increase funding for the military's operations and maintenance programs. Coffman said DRIP duplicated other military technology efforts, and increasing funding for operations and maintenance was necessary to maintain the military's readiness. An opponent, Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., said cutting funding for DRIP would erase "one of the main tools that we have in the defense budget to ensure that small businesses continue to be part of the defense industrial base." The vote, on June 13, was 206 yeas to 220 nays.
YEAS: Rep. Jim Bridenstine R-OK (1st), Rep. Tom Cole R-OK (4th), Rep. James Lankford R-OK (5th), Rep. Frank D. Lucas R-OK (3rd), Rep. Markwayne Mullin R-OK (2nd)

House Vote 7:
MILITARY OPERATIONS IN AFGHANISTAN: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Mass., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1960). The amendment would require the accelerated transition of combat operations in Afghanistan from the U.S. military to the Afghanistan government by the end of 2013, the redeployment of U.S. soldiers out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014, and negotiations to address the security of Afghanistan and surrounding countries following the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country. McGovern said "this amendment puts the wind at the President's back, or holds his feet to the fire, to fulfill the promises he made to our brave troops, their families, and the American people" and withdraw troops from Afghanistan. The vote, on June 13, was 305 yeas to 121 nays.
YEAS: Rep. Jim Bridenstine R-OK (1st), Rep. Tom Cole R-OK (4th)
NAYS: Rep. James Lankford R-OK (5th), Rep. Frank D. Lucas R-OK (3rd), Rep. Markwayne Mullin R-OK (2nd)

House Vote 8:
RIGHTS OF SUSPECTED ENEMY COMBATANTS: The House has passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1960). The amendment would require the government to prove that U.S. citizens apprehended within the U.S. as suspected terrorists are enemy combatants and therefore could be indefinitely detained by the military. Goodlatte said the amendment "should alleviate any of the well-founded concerns of the American people concerning the possibility of indefinite detention of United States citizens. The presumption of innocence until proven guilty will be preserved by adopting this amendment." An opponent, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said the amendment failed to secure the Constitution's Article III rights for suspected enemy combatants, and would give the president excessive power to indefinitely detain a U.S. citizen. The vote, on June 13, was 214 yeas to 211 nays.
YEAS: Rep. Jim Bridenstine R-OK (1st), Rep. Tom Cole R-OK (4th), Rep. James Lankford R-OK (5th), Rep. Frank D. Lucas R-OK (3rd), Rep. Markwayne Mullin R-OK (2nd)

House Vote 9:
PROSECUTING SUSPECTED ENEMY COMBATANTS: The House has rejected an amendment sponsored by Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1960). The amendment would have barred the indefinite military detention in the U.S. of suspected enemy combatants, and require the suspects to be tried by either a state court or by a federal court established under Article III of the Constitution. Smith said the amendment would preserve constitutional rights by requiring the Justice Department to bring cases against suspected terrorists rather than allow the president to indefinitely detain suspects whether or not there is evidence that the suspects have committed a crime. An opponent, Rep. Michael T. McCaul, R-Texas, said requiring civilian trials for suspected foreign terrorists would create the danger of being forces to release terrorists because the government cannot successfully prosecute a criminal case against them. The vote, on June 13, was 200 yeas to 226 nays.
NAYS: Rep. Jim Bridenstine R-OK (1st), Rep. Tom Cole R-OK (4th), Rep. James Lankford R-OK (5th), Rep. Frank D. Lucas R-OK (3rd), Rep. Markwayne Mullin R-OK (2nd)

SENATE VOTES:

Senate Vote 1:
GIGABIT INTERNET IN RURAL AREAS: The Senate has passed an amendment sponsored by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., to the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act (S. 954). The amendment would establish an Agriculture Department pilot program for establishing ultra-high-speed Internet service in rural areas. Leahy said: "The next generation gigabit networks will transform everything from the reliability of the electrical grid, to education and healthcare in rural America. We cannot leave rural America behind in the dust while the rest of the country moves into this next stage of the digital era." The vote, on June 10, was 48 yeas to 38 nays.
NAYS: Sen. Tom Coburn R-OK, Sen. James M. Inhofe R-OK

Senate Vote 2:
FARM BILL: The Senate has passed the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act (S. 954), sponsored by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. The bill would fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and agriculture programs over the next five years while cutting spending on the programs by $24 billion. Stabenow said the bill would promote conservation efforts, help establish a market-based risk management system for farmers to manage their crops and livestock, and eliminate wasteful spending on duplicative programs. An opponent, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., criticized the bill's $4.5-billion reduction in SNAP funding, lack of funding to compensate fishermen suffering from fisheries disasters, and failure to fund climate change adaptation and mitigation projects. The vote, on June 10, was 66 yeas to 27 nays.
NAYS: Sen. Tom Coburn R-OK, Sen. James M. Inhofe R-OK

Senate Vote 3:
IMMIGRATION AND BORDER SECURITY: The Senate has tabled an amendment sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744). The amendment would have barred the government from granting illegal immigrants provisional legal status until the Homeland Security Department has effectively prevented illegal immigration across the U.S. border for six months. Grassley said the amendment would spur the government to secure the border and improve national security. An opponent, Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said the amendment would put off urgently needed immigration reform because fully securing the border will take many years. The vote to table the amendment, on June 13, was 57 yeas to 43 nays.
NAYS: Sen. Tom Coburn R-OK, Sen. James M. Inhofe R-OK

Targeted News Service produces a weekly summary of how each member of your Congressional delegation voted on key issues in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House. This selection of key votes is summarized in a single paragraph with a description of the key elements of the legislation. The "vote chart" shows how your two U.S. Senators and your state's congressional delegation voted. House members in your circulation area may be selected.

TNS Federal Contract Awards to Companies in Your State for Newspapers to Print, Use Online

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Daniels Manufacturing Corp., Orlando, Fla., won a $469,865 federal contract from the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, Lakehurst, N.J., for the supply of wiring system repair tool sets in support of the H-1 aircraft.

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Plasmonics Inc., Orlando, Fla., won a $1,499,914.77 federal contract from the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Business Center, Sierra Vista, Ariz., for research and development services.

$1.21 Million Federal Contract Awarded to American Contractor & Technology

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- American Contractor & Technology Inc., Pensacola, Fla., won a $1,210,355.67 federal contract from the U.S. Coast Guard's Civil Engineering Unit, Miami, for harbor facility site and building shutter repairs. Place of performance will be in Corpus Christi, Texas.

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- American Medical Depot, Hialeah, Fla., won a $67,602.97 federal contract from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' South Texas Health Care System, San Antonio, for eye surgery stretcher and urology gurney systems.

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Corporate Interiors Inc., St. Petersburg, Fla., won a $51,227.33 federal contract from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Medical Center, Columbia, S.C., for furniture.

Contact: Joseph Locke, 803/776-4000, joseph.locke@va.gov. CIV5FCA5.

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$29,140 Federal Contract Awarded to Crystal Graphics

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Crystal Graphics Inc., Lakeland, Fla., won a $29,140 federal contract from the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service, Moose, Wyo., for fiberglass snow poles for Yellowstone National Park.

Targeted News Service produces a daily compilation (2 p.m.) of all federal contract awards issued to companies operating in your state (or customized to only your circulation area). The awards are written as compiled one-paragraph news briefs strung together. These are available for use daily or as tipoffs for your reporters. An aggregated and abridged version of all awards for the previous week is issued on Thursday for newspapers that want to use it weekly.

TNS Federal Patent Awards Assigned to Companies in Your State for Newspapers to Print, Use Online

Targeted News Service produces a daily compilation (1 p.m.) of all federal patent awards assigned to companies operating in your state (or customized to only your circulation area). The patent assignments are written as tight news briefs strung together by state or by your circulation area. These are available for use daily or as tipoffs for your reporters. An aggregated and abridged version of all awards for the previous week is issued on Thursday for newspapers that want to use it weekly.

TNS Federal Patent Awards to Individuals in Your State for Newspapers to Print, Use Online

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "A system, method of configuring, and application a system for introducing a relative phase retardation into orthogonally polarized components of an electromagnetic beam entered thereinto, wherein the system involves a substantially achromatic multiple element retarder system for use in wide spectral range (for example, 190-1700 nm) rotating compensator spectroscopic ellipsometer and/or polarimeter systems."

The patent application was filed on March 14, 2011 (13/065,090). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,462,341&OS=8,462,341&RS=8,462,341

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "The invention provides isolated nucleic acids and their encoded polypeptides that alter tocol content in seeds. The invention further provides expression cassettes, host cells and transformed plants containing the nucleic acids. The present invention further provides methods for altering tocol content in seeds."

The patent application was filed on July 5, 2012 (13/541,994). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=84,61,427.PN.&OS=PN/84,61,427&RS=PN/84,61,427

Written by Amal Ahmed; edited by Jaya Anand.

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Pinehill Technology Assigned Patent

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 14 -- Pinehill Technology, Wilmington, Del., has been assigned a patent (8,463,000) developed by Charles Kaminski Jr., Omaha, Neb., for a "content identification based on a search of a fingerprint database."

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Surrogate heuristic identification is described, including an interface configured to present data associated with content and a fingerprint, wherein the content and the fingerprint are compared to another fingerprint using heuristic data, and a plurality of panels presented within the interface, wherein each of the plurality of panels is configured to present other data generated from one or more functions performed by a logic module, wherein the one or more functions are associated with comparing the content and the fingerprint to the another fingerprint."

The patent application was filed on July 2, 2007 (11/824,957). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=8,463,000.PN.&OS=PN/8,463,000&RS=PN/8,463,000

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "This invention relates to an isolated nucleic acid fragment encoding a 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase. The invention also relates to the construction of a chimeric gene encoding all or a portion of the 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase, in sense or antisense orientation, wherein expression of the chimeric gene results in production of altered levels of the 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase in a transformed host cell."

The patent application was filed on Nov. 3, 2010 (12/938,393). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=84,61,322.PN.&OS=PN/84,61,322&RS=PN/84,61,322

Targeted News Service produces a daily compilation (1 p.m.) of all federal patent awards individual inventors in your state (or customized to only your circulation area). The patent awards are written as tight news briefs strung together by state or by your circulation area. These are available for use daily or as tipoffs for your reporters. An aggregated and abridged version of all awards for the previous week is issued on Thursday for newspapers that want to use it weekly.

TNS U.S. Senate Bill Introductions for Newspapers to Print, Use Online

The legislation was referred to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

The full text of the bill is available from the Library of Congress Thomas legislative website. To access the bill, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/home/LegislativeData.php?&n=BillText. For more information about congressional legislation and services offered by Targeted News Service to track issues, key words or members of Congress who introduce or co-sponsor legislation, please contact editor@targetednews.com or call 703/304-1897.
TARGETED NEWS SERVICE: Myron Struck, editor; 703/304-1897; editor@targetednews.com; https://targetednews.com

Targeted News Service produces a weekly compilation (3 p.m. Thursdays) of all U.S. Senate bill introductions and co-sponsorships by your two Senators. The bill introductions are written as tight news briefs strung together. These are available for use daily or as tipoffs for your reporters.

TNS U.S. House Bill Introductions for Newspapers to Print, Use Online

Rep. Ross Introduces Bill to Prevent Fraudulent Use of Social Security Numbers

WASHINGTON, June 5 -- Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., has introduced legislation (H.R. 2229) to "require the Commissioner of Social Security to issue uniform standards for the method for truncation of Social Security account numbers in order to protect such numbers from being used in the perpetration of fraud or identity theft and to provide for a prohibition on the display to the general public on the Internet of Social Security account numbers by State and local governments and private entities."

The bill was introduced on June 3 and was co-sponsored by Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla.

The legislation was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.

The full text of the bill is available from the Library of Congress Thomas legislative website. To access the bill, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/home/LegislativeData.php?&n=BillText. For more information about congressional legislation and services offered by Targeted News Service to track issues, key words or members of Congress who introduce or co-sponsor legislation, please contact editor@targetednews.com or call 703/304-1897.
TARGETED NEWS SERVICE: Myron Struck, editor; 703/304-1897; editor@targetednews.com; https://targetednews.com

Targeted News Service produces a weekly compilation (3 p.m. Thursdays) of all U.S. House bill introductions and co-sponsorships by your state's congressional delegation. The bill introductions are written as tight news briefs strung together. These are available for use daily or as tipoffs for your reporters.

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